St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-04-16


the ravine of Brier creek Such was the place
that became famous among the Confederates
as The Hornets Nest"
The first assault made was by Gladdens
brigade; and now begin series of some of
the most desperate engagements of the battle.
zen. GLADDEN. having been mortally wounded
In the charge of the early morning, the COM
mand devolved on Col Adams. The line is
barely formed at 10 O'Clock, when the southern
men are seen confidently advancing through
the dense thickets against the unseen foe.
/ They are permitted to come well within range,
when suddenly there flashes from 5000 rifles
blaze Of fire The deep notes of Hicken-
looper's guns mingle with the treble Of the
small arms that echoes through the forest and
! the gray canopy of smoke that rests above the
! scene tells where death is being scattered on
every side The well known rebel yell"
! rings out as the column presses forward and
/ the ground is dotted with the wounded and
! dead. But the leaden storm beats in their faces
with tierceness that nothing human can with
stand, and the crippled brigade recoils to the
cover Of the woods. Gen. A. 7. Stewards COM
mand Of Folks corps is now sent forward,
and once, twice, thrice, it repeats the grand
| effort to carry the position, but with no bet
ter success than before. Gen. Gibson'S
brigade of Braggs corps surgeS III and takes
its place. A cain that hurricane of lead. The
angry balls tiy in showers and seem to bear
a death warrant III every devllish screech.
An entilading fire from the battery cuts down
the men by ranks, like swaths of grass under
the mowers scythe. and yet others continue
to step into the path of death with cheerful
alacrity. it seems, and fall with battle cry
upon their lips. Three times has Gibson
charged, and three times been repulsed. Gen.
Bragg now impatientlv directs one of his
staff, Col Lockett, his chief engineer, to ride
forward TO a central regiment that has been
driven back, and carry its colols to the
A,,F- h,n.,l
he said. The officer. obeying the order,
dashes through the line of battle, seizes
the colOrs from the color bearer, and eXcaims:
Gen. Bragg saws these colOrs must not go
to the rear While he is talking the color
sergeant is shot down. An officer approaches
with a bullet hole i'll each cheek, the blood
streaming from his mouth, and asks: What
are you doing with my colorS, sir" I'm
obeving Gen. Bragg's orders to hold them
where they are" Let me have them, was
the reply: "if any man carries these coors
but the color bearer, / am the man. Tell
Cen Bragg that Will see that these col0rs
are i'll the right place. But he must attack
this position i'll flank; we can never carry it
alone from the front" The officer who spoke
commanded the Fourth Louisiana, and in
stantly riding back to Gen. Bragg to empha-
size the previous request made for artillery
by Gen. Gibson, he was met with the stern
answer: "Col Allen, | want no faItering
NOW! sSLuilg " Tue quich He IeLuli ietI 10 Ills
regiment, and once more there was a wild,
hurrying wave of men rolling up that fatal
slope only to be dashed to death. 1t was
splendid murder! Col. Allen afterward be-
came Governor Allen, of Louisiana. Such
were the kind of men whom Prentiss and
Wallace fought on that eventful day from 8
in the morning until o'clock in the after
noon before one was captured and the other
killed!
Finding that the position could not be car
ried by direct assault, Bragg now determined
on combined flank movement. First, all
the guns within reach were brought up and
concentrated on the one little battery, stand
ing at the salient point where Prentiss and
Wallace joined, that had reaped such a
harvest among the lines of the enemy. Be
fore this terrible fire, Hickenlooper was COM
PEELED to withdraw. By 4:30 o'clock fight
ing in front of Sherman and htcClernand
having ceased. Gems. Cheatham, Trabue,
johnson and Russell, seeing that Wallace
could not be approached across the dense
thicket filling the great ravine which pro-
tected his right, felt their way to the plateau
in his rear, where they met the combined
forces under Bragg in front of Hurlbut's
camp Moving thus agai st the remnants of
the two divisions, they inclosed them almost
in a circle; struggle ensued, but further re-
sistance was useless, and the brave Wallace
was mortally wounded. The Second and
Seventh Iowa, led by Col Tuttle, now cut
their way out and reached Pittsburg Land
ing, but Prentiss, true to his orders from
Gen. Grant, firmly remained at his post, and
"haying lost everything but honor, sur
rendered his little band. It comprised 1900
men And so ended the famous fight in the
hornets nest"